Differential resource application in virtual worlds based on payment and account options

ABSTRACT

A system and method for enhancing the rendering of one or more objects based on payment and account options. The system includes a computer infrastructure configured to control enhancement rendering of an object in a virtual universe by providing at least one augmentation attribute to a tag of the object. The method includes providing enhancement rendering of an object in a virtual universe by augmenting the object based on a status of a user viewing the object.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The invention generally relates to enhanced rendering of an object and,more particularly, to augmenting one or more objects based on paymentand account options.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Virtual universes (VUs) are computer-based simulations of the real worldwhere users interact with one another using online identities. Theseonline identities, known as avatars, can be chosen by a user tographically represent himself within the VU. Once a graphicalrepresentation is chosen, the representation is rendered in the VU usinga variety of geometry, viewpoint, texture, and lighting information.Objects within the VU are also rendered using similar information.

Three dimensional rendering within a VU allows avatars and objects toappear more realistic. Three dimensional rendering is typically done byassigning a number of coordinates to an object and then calculating howlight interacts with the object based on the assigned coordinates.Calculating how light is used within a VU requires a determination ofhow light gets from one point to another, and how light interacts withdifferent surfaces of the object. The more coordinates that areavailable, the better the rendering. The quality of a rendering alsodepends on the type and amount of information that is available todescribe an object including the detail, arrangement, and total numberof objects used to create the rendering.

While it is possible to continually render everything in a VU at thehighest level of enhancement to all users, this produces a very highcomputation load on a VU's servers. This high computation load isultimately passed onto the users in the form of slower renderings,slower refresh rates, or a variety of other hindrances. Furthermore,while the high level enhancement renderings may be appreciated incertain circumstances, there are a number of circumstances in whichcontinual high level enhancement renderings are not even noticed by theuser. For example, when a user is walking down a street, the user looksin a certain direction. The user's view is limited to a certainperipheral, such as the total view that can be rendered on a computermonitor. Computationally, it would be wasteful to enhance everythingsurrounding the user when the user can only view a small subset of thesurroundings. Additionally, it would be wasteful to enhance everythingwithin the user's subset if, for example, the user is rushing through anarea to get to an ultimate destination. Furthermore, it would bewasteful to enhance a number of objects that the user has no preferencein viewing enhanced, or to provide an enhanced rendering to userswithout the hardware requirements to appreciate the rendering. In otherwords, a number of factors need to be considered when determining theamount of rendering, and when something should be rendered to a user.

Accordingly, there exists a need in the art to overcome the deficienciesand limitations described hereinabove.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In a first aspect of the invention, a system comprises a server having adatabase containing data. The system comprises a computer infrastructureconfigured to control enhancement rendering of an object in a virtualuniverse by providing at least one augmentation attribute to a tag ofthe object.

In another aspect of the invention, a method comprises providingenhancement rendering of an object in a virtual universe by augmentingthe object based on a status of a user viewing the object.

In yet another aspect of the invention, a method comprises providing acomputer infrastructure being operable to detect a request to augmentone or more objects and transmit an augmentation attribute associatedwith the one or more objects.

In another aspect of the invention, a computer program productcomprising a computer usable medium having readable program codeembodied in the medium is provided. The computer program productincludes at least one component to: determine if an object has anaugmentation attribute with more than one level of enhancement;ascertain a user status and/or a payment level; permit a user access toan augmentation attribute based on the user status and/or the paymentlevel; and augment the object by providing enhancement rendering to theobject.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present invention is described in the detailed description whichfollows, in reference to the noted plurality of drawings by way ofnon-limiting examples of exemplary embodiments of the present invention.

FIG. 1 shows an illustrative environment for implementing the steps inaccordance with the invention;

FIG. 2 shows an example of an object, which may be combined with otherobjects to render a larger object in accordance with the invention;

FIG. 3 shows an illustrative high level view of an object's datastructure in accordance with the invention;

FIG. 4 is a flow chart showing illustrative steps in accordance with theinvention;

FIG. 5 shows an illustrative context menu in accordance with theinvention; and

FIG. 6 shows an illustrative payment option menu in accordance with theinvention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION

The invention is directed to a method and system for enhancing renderingof an object and, more particularly, to augmenting one or more objectsbased on payment and/or account options. By implementing the method andsystem of the invention, it becomes possible for a user to have enhancedrenderings of one or more objects while participating in a VU. Theseenhanced renderings may allow the user to augment such senses as sight,smell, touch, taste, or audio within a VU.

By using this invention, users obtain an enhanced rendering of a desiredobject or avatar within the VU including the user's own avatar. Theseaugmentations may provide enhanced rendering for the user, for the userand selected others, or only to other users. The level of enhancement,who can experience the enhanced rendering, how frequent the enhancedrendering occurs, as well as many other features relating to an enhancedrendering, are determined by the user's status within the VU, by anapplicable fee structure, or by a variety of payment schemes availablewithin the VU.

System Environment

FIG. 1 shows an illustrative environment 10 for managing the processesin accordance with the invention. To this extent, the environment 10includes a server 12 that can perform the processes described herein. Inparticular, the server 12 includes a computing device 14 that comprisesa management system 30, which makes computing device 14 operable todetermine whether enhanced rendering is required by using a tagidentifier 35.

The computing device 14 includes a processor 20, a memory 22A, aninput/output (I/O) interface 24, and a bus 26. The memory 22A caninclude local memory employed during actual execution of program code,bulk storage, and cache memories which provide temporary storage of atleast some program code in order to reduce the number of times code mustbe retrieved from bulk storage during execution. Further, the computingdevice 14 is in communication with an external I/O device/resource 28and a storage system 22B. For example, the I/O device 28 can compriseany device that enables a user 16 to interact with the computing device14 or any device that enables the computing device 14 to communicatewith one or more other computing devices using any type ofcommunications link. The external I/O device/resource 28 may bekeyboards, displays, pointing devices, etc.

In general, the processor 20 executes computer program code, which isstored in memory 22A and/or storage system 22B. While executing computerprogram code, the processor 20 can read and/or write data to/from memory22A, storage system 22B, and/or I/O interface 24. The bus 26 provides acommunications link between each of the components in the computingdevice 14.

The computing device 14 can comprise any general purpose computingarticle of manufacture capable of executing computer program codeinstalled thereon (e.g., a personal computer, server, handheld device,etc.). However, it is understood that the computing device 14 is onlyrepresentative of various possible equivalent computing devices that mayperform the processes described herein. To this extent, in embodiments,the functionality provided by the computing device 14 can be implementedby a computing article of manufacture that includes any combination ofgeneral and/or specific purpose hardware and/or computer program code.In each embodiment, the program code and hardware can be created usingstandard programming and engineering techniques, respectively.

Similarly, the server 12 is only illustrative of various types ofcomputer infrastructures for implementing the invention. For example, inembodiments, the server 12 comprises two or more computing devices(e.g., a server cluster) that communicate over any type ofcommunications link, such as a network, a shared memory, or the like, toperform the process described herein. Further, while performing theprocesses described herein, one or more computing devices on the server12 can communicate with one or more other computing devices external tothe server 12 using any type of communications link. The communicationslink can comprise any combination of wired and/or wireless links; anycombination of one or more types of networks (e.g., the Internet, a widearea network, a local area network, a virtual private network, etc.);and/or utilize any combination of transmission techniques and protocols.

In embodiments, the invention provides a business method that performsthe steps of the invention on a subscription, advertising, and/or feebasis. That is, a service provider, such as a Solution Integrator, couldoffer to perform the processes described herein. In this case, theservice provider can create, maintain, deploy, support, etc., a computerinfrastructure that performs the process steps of the invention for oneor more customers. In return, the service provider can receive paymentfrom the customer(s) under a subscription and/or fee agreement and/orthe service provider can receive payment from the sale of advertisingcontent to one or more third parties.

Object Rendering

FIG. 2 shows an exemplary object rendering in accordance with theinvention. When a user participates in a VU, the user encounters anumber of objects 100, representatively shown in FIG. 2. Each object 100is represented by one or more smaller objects 105, or building blocks,that give the object its distinguishing characteristics. These smallerobjects 105 may be represented by a number of different forms, orcombination of forms, which give the illusion of a cohesive object. Forexample, the smaller objects 105 may be represented by one or morepolygons that are fitted together to form an object 100. Alternatively,the smaller objects 105 can be comprised of boxes, prisms, spheres,cylinders, tori, tubes, rings, etc. Each smaller object 105 may befurther defined by a number of textures, colors, or other details 110that are used to make the smaller object 105 look a certain way. Byassigning, for example, one shade to one object and another shade to anadjacent object, an illusion of depth may be created.

The smaller objects 105 may be rearranged, resized, rotated, twisted,tapered, dimpled, linked, etc., such that the final product of thecombination of smaller objects 105, i.e., the larger object 100, isrendered with enough detail for the user to ascertain what the objectrepresents. The level of enhancement, and also the computation costsassociated with producing the rendering, may vary depending on thedetail, the arrangement, and the total number of smaller objects 105used to create the rendered object 105. Generally, the more detailed theobject, the better the rendering, and the higher the computational costsrequired to render the object.

Object Data Structure

FIG. 3 shows an embodiment of an object data structure. The object 210is structured to include a number of tags 220. The tags 220 may be usedto describe one or more levels of enhancement 230. As described below,one or more augmentation attributes 270 are stored in the augmentationattribute database 250. The object data structure further permits one ormore levels of enhancement 230. These levels of enhancement 230 are usedto describe the amount of detail that should be used to render anobject.

More specifically, an object 210 has at least one metadata field thatcontains instructions describing how the object 210 may be rendered. Inthe example illustrated in FIG. 3, the metadata field is represented byone or more tags 220. The data stored in the tags 220 may be representedby any number of data structures, and each tag 220 may be used todescribe one or more levels of enhancement 230. For example, in oneembodiment, each tag 220 within the object 210 may represent a differentlevel of enhancement 230. In another embodiment, two or more tags 220may be used to represent the different levels of enhancement 230. In yetanother embodiment, all of the levels of enhancement 230 may becontained in a single tag 220. Tags 220 not storing information about alevel of enhancement 230, may store other information relating to theobject 210.

Different levels of enhancement 230 may represent differentcharacteristics depending on the object 210. For example, an object 210may have only one level of enhancement 230. Typically this indicatesthat the object 210 has a standard rendering but does not have anenhanced rendering. Therefore, the object 210 is rendered the same wayfor all users, regardless of the user's status or payment scheme.However, in an alternative embodiment, an object 210 may have a singlelevel of enhancement 230, but that level of enhancement 230 may indicatethat an object 210 is either visible or not visible depending on theuser's status, whether the user has paid to view the object, or a numberof alternative schemes.

The objects 210 that include different levels of enhancement 230 mayalso represent a number of different scenarios. For example, an objecthaving multiple levels of enhancement 230 may have one level ofenhancement 230 associated with preferred users, and another level ofenhancement 230 associated with standard users. Other embodiments mayinclude multiple levels of low, intermediate, or high level enhancements230 that are based on a user's status and/or a payment scheme. Yet otherembodiments may include levels of enhancement 230 that may only beachieved by utilizing one or more payment schemes.

Regardless of the number of levels of enhancement associated with anobject 210, a specific user may be entitled to a level of enhancementbased on a number of considerations. For example, certain levels ofenhancement 230 may only be open to users that have a certain userstatus. The user status may be related to actions taken by an userwithin a VU, such as how frequently the user enters the universe, howmany interactions the user has had in the VU within the last month, howmuch money the user has spent in the VU, as well as a number of otherconsiderations. Also, the user status may be associated with a fee thatis paid for a heightened user status, a temporary trial period, or apromotion that permits a user to obtain a certain user status for atemporary or other predetermined duration of time.

Additional embodiments also permit users to obtain enhanced renderingsbased on a variety of payment schemes. For example, certain levels ofenhancement 230 may be open to users based on a per object feestructure, which permits a user to pay a specific amount of money toobtain an enhanced rendering of a specific object 210. As anillustration, a user may desire to view an enhanced rendering of ananimal at a zoo. To obtain this enhanced rendering, the user may pay aflat fee for the enhanced rendering of the animal every time the animalis viewed by the user. In embodiments, the user may be permitted todetermine a level of enhancement by paying a fee associated with arespective level of enhancement 230.

Alternative payment schemes are also available. For example, in oneembodiment, a user may obtain a subscription, which permits the user toobtain a higher level of enhancement 230 when one or more objects 210are rendered in the VU. Additional embodiments may provide discountedrates to users depending on the user status.

In yet another embodiment, a user may be charged each time the userdesires a specific level of enhancement 230; in other words, a pay perenhanced view scheme. For example, a user may view the Mona Lisa whilevisiting an art museum in a VU. The user may want to view the paintingwith a higher level of enhancement 230, therefore, the user may chooseto pay for an enhanced view. However, if the user chooses to viewanother painting and then return to the Mona Lisa, the enhancedrendering of the Mona Lisa may no longer be available. Also, differentembodiments may permit the rendering to last only as long as the user isviewing the object, as long as the user is in a certain vicinity of theobject, or the user has rendered the object within a certain period oftime. In other words, alternative embodiments may permit the user tocome back to the Mona Lisa, given certain restrictions, and view theMona Lisa with the enhanced rendering.

Another payment scheme may be used to charge a user for each requestedrendering enhancement to an object. In other words, a pay perenhancement scheme is contemplated by the invention. For example, if auser approaches the Mona Lisa while in an art museum, then the user canchoose specific enhancements that the user desires to be rendered. Thismeans, for example, that the user could choose to have Gouraud, Phong,or Blinn-Phong shading applied to the Mona Lisa instead of a standardflat shading. Thus, using a pay per enhancement scheme, the user canchoose a single enhancement or, alternatively, the user can choose morethan one enhancement that is available for the object 210. Similar to apay per enhanced view scheme, alternative embodiments may permit theuser to come back to the Mona Lisa, given certain restrictions, and viewthe Mona Lisa with the enhanced rendering.

It should be understood that many alternative payment schemes areavailable to provide an enhanced rendering for an object 210.Additionally, the payments accrued during these schemes may be paidusing a number of VU or electronic fund transfer methods. In analternative embodiment, the fee for the enhancement may vary dependingon the user's original level of enhancement 230. However, otherembodiments may maintain a flat fee instead of varying the fee inrelation to the user's original level of enhancement 230. In any case,the fee may be paid to a service provider, in exchange for the enhancedrenderings.

In embodiments, when a user obtains a higher level of enhancement 230for an object 210, the user experiences the enhanced rendering of theobject. This enhanced rendering is typically only available to theindividual user that purchased the enhancement, has the required userstatus, or has obtained the enhancement through a variety of otherpredetermined mechanisms. Typically, in such instances, other users willnot have access to the same level of enhancement 230 as the users thathave acquired the higher level of enhancement 230. In other words,standard users will not view the object rendered with enhancement.However, in alternative embodiments, a user may permit specific users,e.g., users within a specific area; to have the enhanced rendering. Forexample, a school teacher may purchase a higher level of enhancement fora group of students so that they can view enhanced renderings. This maybe done in a number of ways including: adding an additional charge perstudent (user), charging a flat rate for a group rendering, or charginga variable flat rate depending on the number of users in the group.

In a further embodiment, a service provider, advertiser, etc., may allowcertain objects to be viewed as enhanced renderings for promotionalpurposes. For example, within a virtual store, there may be a number ofdifferent goods that are sold to users within the VU. The store ownermay decide to use an enhancement scheme to enhance an object within thevirtual store so users within the store are allowed to view a higherrendering of an object 210, and are therefore more likely to buy theobject 210. In one embodiment, the store owner may provide a temporarilyenhanced rendering of an object 210 only to first time visitors of thevirtual store, or only when the user picks up the object 210 while inthe store. Alternatively, a user may be in the virtual store and chooseto enhance an object 210 to obtain an enhanced rendering beforepurchasing the object 210 from the virtual store.

In another embodiment, an advertiser selling objects 210 in the virtualstore may pay for the object 210 to have an enhanced rendering while inthe store, to better promote the advertiser's merchandise.Alternatively, the advertiser, or even the user purchasing the object,may pay for the object 210 to have a higher level of enhancement 230 notonly in the store, but also after leaving the store. Alternatively, theadvertiser, or user, may purchase a higher level of enhancement 230 forone part of the object 210, such as a logo on the object 210. Thisbenefits the advertiser because the brand or trademark is presented withan enhanced rendering throughout the VU.

In a further embodiment, a VU administrator, service provider,advertiser, etc., may permit a user to view an enhanced rendering of anobject 210 once the user is within a certain distance of the object 210.For example, a virtual store owner may enhance the rendering of anobject 210 whenever a user is within five feet of the object 210.Alternatively, the enhancement may be rendered when a user is projectedto reach the object 210 within a certain period of time. This permits auser to view the object 210 at a higher level of enhancement 230 priorto reaching the object, wherein the enhancement is either based on a feestructure or at no cost. In addition to obtaining a higher level ofenhancement 230 when approaching an object 210, it should be understoodthat the user may also choose to obtain further enhancement of theobject 210 as described above.

Once a level of enhancement 230 is determined, one or more augmentationattributes 270 can be associated with the level of enhancement 230. Asdescribed above, augmentation attributes 270 define how the object 210is rendered under the determined level of enhancement 230. Thus, eachaugmentation attribute 270 may represent one or more features thatenhance or change the rendering of an object 210. For example, anaugmentation attribute 270 may represent an object's geometric detail, arendering method, a color palette, and/or the refresh rate associatedwith an object 210.

An augmentation attribute 270 may be very broad, such as assigning colorpalette number “3” to an object 210. However, augmentation attributes270 may also be very detailed. For example, an object's geometric detailmay be broken down to include a texture mapping enhancement for anobject 210. The texture mapping may be further broken down to includeparallax mapping, bump mapping, clamping, wrapping, normal mapping,displacement mapping, texture filtering, texture splatting, or a numberof other texture mapping technologies that may be used to describe theobject 210. This same detailed breakdown may be used for all objectaugmentation attributes 270, which is not limited to rendering methods,color palettes, and refresh rates.

Augmentation attributes 270 may be represented in a number of ways. Inone embodiment, an augmentation attribute 270 may be stored in the tag220, where each tag 220 may have one or more augmentation attributes 270associated with the object 210. To allow for alternative storagemechanisms, augmentation attributes 270 may be stored in a tag 220according to an augmentation attribute ID 240. These augmentationattribute IDs 240 may be indexed or arranged in a separate augmentationattribute database 250 for easy recovery.

According to one embodiment, each augmentation attribute 270 isassociated with at least one augmentation attribute ID 240. As such, theaugmentation attribute 270 may be unique to a specific object 210 and aspecific level of enhancement 230. Alternatively, an augmentationattribute 270 may be associated with multiple levels of enhancement 230relating to multiple objects 210. In other embodiments, a singleaugmentation attribute ID 240 may be used to represent more than oneaugmentation attribute 270. For example, an augmentation attribute ID240 of “7861” and “6741” may represent the augmentation attributes 270for ray tracing and a three second refresh rate.

While some objects 210 may have distinctly unique levels of enhancement230 having completely different augmentation attributes 270, otherobjects may have one or more levels of enhancement 230 that share one ormore augmentation attributes 270. For example, an object 210 may have alevel of enhancement 230 including 16 bit color and bump mapping. Thatsame object 210 may also have a higher level of enhancement 230including 32 bit color and bump mapping. Hence, the object 210 may havecertain augmentation attributes 270 that stay the same between one ormore levels of enhancement 230 and other augmentation attributes 270that differ between one or more levels of enhancement 230.

The details associated with an enhancement rendering may appearseamlessly to the user, such that the user does not know that a specificobject 210 has been enhanced. Alternatively, in other embodiments, auser may be informed that an object 210 has multiple levels ofenhancement and the user may be permitted to choose a level ofenhancement 230 for the object 210, or choose one or more augmentationattributes 270 associated with the object 210. For example, a user maypick up an object 210 in the VU, select a higher level of enhancement230, and have that enhancement rendered to the user nearlyinstantaneously.

Processes According to Embodiments of the Invention

FIG. 4 is a flow diagram implementing steps of the invention which maybe implemented in the environment of FIG. 1. FIG. 4 may equallyrepresent a high-level block diagram of the invention. The steps of FIG.4 may be implemented and executed from either a server, in a clientserver relationship, or they may run on a user workstation withoperative information conveyed to the user workstation to allow forenhanced renderings based on payment or user status. Additionally, theinvention can take the form of an entirely hardware embodiment, anentirely software embodiment or an embodiment containing both hardwareand software elements.

In an embodiment, the invention is implemented in software, whichincludes but is not limited to firmware, resident software, microcode,etc. Furthermore, the invention can take the form of a computer programproduct accessible from a computer-usable or computer-readable mediumproviding program code for use by or in connection with a computer orany instruction execution system. The software and/or computer programproduct can be implemented in the environment of FIG. 1, as should beunderstood and capable of implementation by those of skill in the art.For the purposes of this description, a computer-usable or computerreadable medium can be any apparatus that can contain, store,communicate, propagate, or transport the program for use by or inconnection with the instruction execution system, apparatus, or device.The medium can be an electronic, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic,infrared, or semiconductor system (or apparatus or device) or apropagation medium. Examples of a computer-readable medium include asemiconductor or solid state memory, magnetic tape, a removable computerdiskette, a random access memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), arigid magnetic disk and an optical disk. Current examples of opticaldisks include compact disk-read only memory (CD-ROM), compactdisk-read/write (CD-R/W) and DVD.

FIG. 4 is a flow chart illustrating a number of processes in accordancewith the invention. At step 302, a determination is made as to whetheran object has the possibility of being enhanced, i.e., if the object hasmore than one level of enhancement. In one embodiment, a tag interpretermay be used to view the object's metadata and determine the total numberof levels of enhancement that are available for the object. Alternativeembodiments may keep track of the total levels of enhancement as aseparate variable, or even via a pointer, which can be easilyascertained when a user initially approaches the object.

If it is determined that an object cannot be enhanced, at step 305 thestandard rendering of the object is maintained to all users in the VU.However, if an enhanced rendering for an object does exist, then theuser may be given access to a context menu at step 310. A context menupresents the user with a selectable mechanism for the user, or client,to request the enhancement rendering at a remote location from a virtualuniverse server. An example of a context menu of step 310 is discussedbelow in more detail in FIG. 5.

At step 315, a determination is made as to whether the user selected anenhancement from the context menu. If the user does not choose anenhancement from the context menu, then the object rendering ismaintained in its original state at step 330.

If an enhancement is chosen from the context menu at step 315, at step320 the object's metadata is interrogated to determine the instructionsused to describe the enhanced rendering. In one embodiment, the metadatamay be represented as one or more tags having augmentation attributesassociated with the one or more tags. The object's metadata may beinterrogated by a tag interpreter, or similar interpretation mechanism.

At step 325, a determination is made as to whether object modificationis needed, as requested by a user. In one embodiment, the determinationof whether an object requires modification may be performed using a taginterpreter. By way of example, the tag interpreter may be used tocompare the current rendering with a proposed new rendering to determineif there are any differences. Generally, object modification is notneeded if a user selects the same level of rendering as is alreadyvisible to the user. Alternatively, in another embodiment, objectmodification may not be needed if the user's hardware limitations wouldlimit the user from experiencing the enhanced rendering. If objectmodification is not needed, then the object's rendering is maintained,at step 330.

If object rendering is needed, at step 335, a determination is made asto the user's status. The user's status may include, for example,whether the user is a preferred user within the VU, whether the user hasalready paid for the enhancement, or whether the enhancement has alreadybeen provided by another user in the VU. Additional factors may also beused to determine user status. For example, in one embodiment, the usermay request, in advance, that an online account be debited every time acertain type of object appears within a certain area. Therefore, theuser does not have to pay for a permanent enhancement of the object, ora different user status, yet is still permitted to view the enhancementwithout having to individually enhance the object every time it occurswithin the specified area of a VU. An example of a payment option menuaccording to step 340 is discussed below in more detail in FIG. 6.

If the user is found to be eligible at step 335, at step 340, the usermay change status to obtain an enhanced rendering of an object. By wayof example, a user may change status by: participating in a paymentscheme, obtaining a subscription, increasing user status within the VUvia high involvement in the VU, and/or by paying a fee to become apreferred user. If the user is not successful in changing status, thenthe object's original rendering will be maintained at step 330. However,if the user is successful in changing status at step 340, or if the useralready has the requisite user status, then a determination is made atstep 345 as to whether the user has the resources required for theenhanced rendering. In one embodiment, this may be performed using apass through tag identifier, which is configured to determine whether anenhancement download to a remote client is required.

An enhancement download may be required for a number of reasons. Forexample, a user within a VU requesting an enhanced rendering may nothave all of the attributes that are required to render the desired levelof enhancement. Also, certain VU's may permit a user to download a basicversion of the VU in order for the user to save space on the user'scomputer; however, this basic version may not have the texture, shading,or other attributes that are required for a specific enhancement to berendered. Alternatively, a VU may offer a new attribute that was notoriginally available when the user acquired the attributes associatedwith the VU. In any case, a user that does not have the requirementsneeded to render a specific enhancement may download the enhancementfrom a remote client at step 355.

Downloading an augmentation attribute may be accomplished by allowingthe user to personally download the required attributes. However, inalternative embodiments, once it is determined that the user is missingrequisite augmentation attributes, then the augmentation attributes forthe enhanced rendering may be sent to the user automatically from aremote client. Some embodiments may send all of the augmentationattributes associated with the enhanced rendering, while otherembodiments may send only those augmentation attributes that the user ismissing. By sending only those augmentation attributes that the user ismissing, it is possible to reduce the amount of computational resourcesconsumed in the transfer. This results in a faster download for theuser. Also, while some embodiments require the user to have all of theaugmentation attributes before the enhancement can be rendered, otherembodiments may permit an object to be partially rendered while the userfinishes downloading the missing augmentation attributes. This may beparticularly useful when the user has difficulty downloading one or moreaugmentation attributes, such that the user's ability to participate inthe VU would be inhibited.

After the user has all of the augmentation attributes (regardless ofwhether the user originally possessed the augmentation attributes orwhether the user obtained the augmentation attributes by downloadingthem) then the enhancement may be rendered at step 350. The renderingmay stem from either step 345 or step 355

Throughout the process of providing enhanced object renderings to users,it may be necessary to adjust computation resources to accommodate forutilization of the augmenting. For example, a user with a standard userstatus will generally view lower object renderings than a user having apreferred user status. However, if the user having a standard userstatus decides to change user status to a preferred status, then theuser will view the enhanced renderings associated with the new preferreduser status. These enhanced renderings generally contain moreaugmentation attributes and also require additional computing power todisplay the enhanced renderings. Therefore, the change in user statusrequires more resources in aggregate from the server. This increasedserver load, and the computation resources associated with the increasedserver load, are typically considered when adjusting loads between oneor more servers. The adjustment of computational resources toaccommodate for utilization of augmentations may be accomplished usingexisting technologies such as known server load balancing.

Menu Options

FIG. 5 shows an example of a context menu implemented in accordance withthe invention. In the illustrated embodiment, the context menu 420displays a variety of information to aid the user in deciding whether toenhance the object. This information may include the level ofenhancement 430 and the details associated with the rendering, such as alist of attributes 440 associated with the level of enhancement 430.Once a level of enhancement 430 is selected via selection of referencelevel 450 from the context menu 420, the user can choose a user statusor payment option.

FIG. 6 illustrates a payment option menu 530 in accordance with theinvention. The menu includes payment options 550, which may varydepending on the object being rendered and the level of enhancement. Forexample, a user may be given payment options for an enhanced renderingof an object: every time the user encounters the object; only during thecurrent rendering of the object; a limited period of time; or a numberof other conceivable payment options. While FIG. 6 shows the paymentoption 550 as a separate screen, which may be encountered after choosinga level of enhancement, it should be understood that the payment options550 may be presented to the user when the user first chooses a level ofenhancement. Alternative embodiments may also permit the user to view arange of payment options 550 before viewing the different levels ofenhancement.

While the invention has been described in terms of embodiments, thoseskilled in the art will recognize that the invention can be practicedwith modifications and in the spirit and scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method for controlling display of an object ona display device comprising: determining whether one or more levels ofenhancement rendering on the display device is to be applied to theobject displayed on the display device; obtaining instructionsdescribing the one or more levels of the enhancement rendering of theobject; determining a status of a user; providing one or more levels ofthe enhancement rendering of the object in a virtual universe byaugmenting the display of the object on the display device based on thestatus of the user viewing the object, the status of the user beingrelated to one or more actions taken by the user within the virtualuniverse; and determining whether the object has the possibility ofbeing enhanced with more than one level of enhancement of at least oneof refresh rate, to have a faster refresh rate than a standard refreshrate, and level of bit color of the object, to have a higher level ofbit color than a standard level of bit color, prior to determiningwhether the one or more levels of enhancement rendering on the displaydevice is to be applied to the object displayed on the display device;wherein the augmenting the object on the display device includes atleast one of increasing the refresh rate to have a faster refresh ratethan the standard refresh rate, and increasing the level of bit color ofthe object to have a higher level of bit color than the standard levelof bit color, and wherein the determining includes determining whetherthe object has the possibility of being enhanced with regard to both therefresh rate and the level of bit color of the object, and furthercomprising determining whether the object has the possibility of beingenhanced with more than one type of shading, and, based on thedetermining of the possibility of being enhanced with more than one typeof shading, augmenting the object on the display device with one ofpossible enhanced shadings.
 2. The method of claim 1, further comprisingmodifying the object when the user accesses another level of the one ormore levels of the enhancement rendering.
 3. The method of claim 1,further comprising adjusting computational resources to accommodate forutilization of the augmenting.
 4. The method of claim 1, wherein: theaugmenting the object on the display device further includes a renderingmethod; and the status of the user comprises how many interactions theuser has had in the virtual universe within a predetermined time period.5. The method of claim 1, further comprising allowing one or more userstemporary access to an augmentation attribute which provides the one ormore levels of the enhancement rendering.
 6. The method of claim 1,further comprising determining whether an augmentation attributeassociated with the one or more levels of the enhancement rendering isrequired to be sent to the user.
 7. The method of claim 6, furthercomprising allowing the user to change status after determining thestatus of the user and prior to determining whether the augmentationattribute associated with the one or more levels of the enhancementrendering is required to be sent to the user.
 8. The method of claim 1,wherein the steps of claim 1 are implemented on a computerinfrastructure maintained, deployed, created and supported by a serviceprovider on one of a fee and/or subscription basis.
 9. The method ofclaim 1, further comprising determining whether the user chooses anenhancement rendering from a context menu.
 10. The method of claim 9,further comprising determining whether object modification is necessaryafter obtaining the instructions describing the one or more levels ofthe enhancement rendering of the object and prior to determining thestatus of the user.
 11. The method of claim 1, further comprisingallowing the user to change status after determining the status of theuser and prior to providing the one or more levels of the enhancementrendering of the object in the virtual universe.
 12. The method of claim1, further comprising using a tag interpreter to view metadata of theobject to determine a total number of levels of enhancement that areavailable for the object.
 13. The method of claim 1, further comprisingdetermining whether the object has more than one level of enhancement bya tag interpreter.
 14. The method of claim 13, further comprisingdetermining whether the object has more than one level of enhancementvia a pointer.
 15. The method of claim 14, further comprising providingthe user with access to a context menu which presents the user with aselectable mechanism to request enhancement rendering when it isdetermined that more than one level of enhancement exists for theobject.
 16. The method of claim 15, wherein the context menu isconfigured to allow the user to request the enhancement rendering at aremote location from a virtual universe server.
 17. The method of claim1, further comprising determining whether the object has a possibilityof the refresh rate being enhanced to have the faster refresh rate thanthe standard refresh rate, and augmenting the object on the displaydevice by increasing the refresh rate to the faster refresh rate thanthe standard refresh rate.
 18. The method of claim 1, further comprisingmaintaining a standard rendering if it is determined that the objectcannot be enhanced.
 19. The method of claim 18, wherein the standardrendering pertains to at least one of refresh rate and the level of bitcolor of the object.